I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 560: Bunnies

His hand moved toward the table’s edge, divine power already gathering in preparation for an attack.

Aurora’s laughter, melodious and inviting, stood in stark contrast to the inherent danger she embodied.

”Is that any way to treat family, Z? After all, I am father’s sister. You’d think that would earn me some basic courtesy rather than that nasty hostility.”

Death’s gaze shifted between Draven and their guest, indicating heightened awareness.

While he did not overtly react, his demeanor conveyed a distinct increase in caution.

Draven stood slowly, his chair scraping against the grass. ”Stella,” he stated flatly, the name carrying weight that made reality ripple slightly.

”I should have known you’d find a way out eventually. My curse was designed to hold you, but nothing’s truly permanent when the boy believes you’re someone else.”

”Your curse was quite clever,” Stella replied, moving closer with steps that made her appear to glide across the grassland.

”Trapping me inside the girl’s body while simultaneously preventing me from using her voice or accessing mana. Very cruel. Very... you.”

Her smile widened. ”But all curses break eventually when the caster chooses to release them. Thank you for that, by the way. I was getting so bored just watching and waiting.”

Draven’s expression darkened further, storm clouds forming overhead despite the domain’s eternal afternoon light.

”Is Aurora still in there? Or did you consume her when you possessed the body?”

Stella’s laugh was lighter this time, almost girlish. ”Does it matter? She served her purpose. Getting close to Sarin’s successor, becoming his fiancée, positioning herself perfectly for when I finally broke free.”

She waved one hand dismissively. ”Whether her consciousness still exists somewhere in here or whether I absorbed it years ago... well, that’s not really your concern, is it?”

”It matters to Jack,” Draven replied, his voice carrying a dangerous edge. ”He cares about her. Believes he’s going to marry her and build a life with her. Finding out his fiancée has been possessed by an obsessive goddess who wants to use him for...”

He trailed off, disgust bleeding into his expression. ”What exactly do you want with him, Stella?”

The goddess’s smile became blissful, her eyes taking on a dreamy quality that made her appear simultaneously beautiful and deeply unsettling.

”Isn’t it obvious? I want his babies. I want to carry Sarin’s successor’s children, raise them to be powerful, perfect, and mine. I’ve waited so long for this, watched him grow from a distance, planned every detail of how we’ll be together once I reveal myself.”

She clasped her hands together, the gesture eerily innocent despite the disturbing content of her words.

”He’s going to be magnificent once he fully embraces what he is. Already, he’s recreating Sarin’s techniques, absorbing his blood, walking the same path toward apotheosis. And I’ll be there with him, supporting him, loving him, giving him everything he needs to achieve his destiny.”

Death finally spoke, his voice carrying flat certainty. ”You’re insane. You know that, right? This isn’t devotion or love... It’s an obsession wrapped in delusion. Jack isn’t Sarin. He’s his own person with his own choices, and somehow I doubt ’have children with crazy goddess wearing my fiancée’s body’ is high on his priority list.”

Stella’s attention immediately focused on Death, her demeanor hardening imperceptibly while she maintained a composed expression.

”You don’t understand. None of you do. Sarin was perfect. Powerful, ambitious, and willing to reshape reality itself to achieve his vision. But you all betrayed him, conspired against him, let that monster Kronos consume part of his divine essence.”

Her voice took on an edge, barely contained fury beneath the sweet exterior. ”I was loyal. I would have done anything he asked without question, followed him into war against the Primordials themselves if he’d commanded it. But he disappeared before I could prove my devotion. So now I’ll prove it through his successor. Through Jack.”

Draven’s hands crackled with gathering lightning, white electricity arcing between his fingers as storm clouds overhead began rotating into formation.

”Have you told the boy yet? About what he is, about Sarin, about the role you’re trying to force him into?”

Stella’s smile returned to its previous innocent quality.

”Not yet. But maybe I should tell him after I get pregnant. After we’ve consummated our relationship and created a new life that carries both his power and my divine essence. That seems like the perfect moment for revelation, don’t you think?”

”ENOUGH!” Draven’s roar echoed across the domain with a force that made reality itself shudder.

The storm overhead intensified dramatically, lightning flashing between clouds as he controlled his divine fury.

His right hand extended, electricity coalescing into solid form as he shaped raw power into a physical weapon.

Within seconds, he held a spear of pure lightning.

Eight feet long, crackling with energy that could vaporize mountains, forged from rage and protective instinct that had been building since he’d first realized Stella had possessed Aurora.

He threw it with all his considerable strength, the lightning spear crossing the distance to Stella’s position faster than mortal perception could track.

The deity remained stationary, refraining from deploying a defensive barrier or exhibiting any reaction as the formidable assault rapidly approached.

Instead, she blew a kiss.

Pink energy erupted from her lips, forming a heart-shaped projectile that flew toward the incoming lightning spear.

The two attacks met in midair, divine essences colliding in an explosion of light and sound that should have devastated the surrounding landscape.

But instead of destruction, something impossible occurred.

The lightning spear began melting, its solid electrical form losing cohesion as pink energy washed over it like acid.

But rather than dissipating, the power restructured itself, the divine essence being rewritten at the fundamental level into something completely different.

Bunnies. Physical rabbits manifested where the lightning spear had been.

A dozen of them, each one perfectly formed and completely alive despite having been created from raw, destructive energy seconds ago.

They fell to the grass in a confused heap, their little noses twitching as they tried to understand their sudden existence.

One hopped over to Draven’s position and sat at his feet, looking up at him as it tilted its head.

Stella laughed delightedly, the sound carrying genuine mirth. ”Oh, Z, you’re so predictable! Did you really think a straightforward attack would work against me? I’m the goddess of love and beauty. Transformation and transmutation are literally my domain. Your lightning is powerful, but it’s still just energy. And energy can be reshaped into whatever form I desire.”

She crouched down, extending one hand toward the nearest bunny. The creature hopped over immediately, nuzzling against her palm.

”Besides, aren’t they adorable? Much better use of divine power than simple destruction, don’t you think?”

Draven stared at the rabbits scattered across his domain’s grass, his expression cycling through fury, frustration, and grudging recognition that attacking Stella directly would be pointless.

”You’ve made your point. Now leave before I find methods that actually work against your particular brand of insanity.”

”So hostile,” Stella pouted, standing and brushing grass from her traveling clothes.

”You used to be more fun, Z. Back before the betrayal, before Kronos consumed part of Sarin, before you all decided that survival mattered more than loyalty. You had fire then, conviction that made you interesting rather than just another brooding god hiding from his mistakes.”